Abstract B100: Preclinical evaluation of a novel HSP90 inhibitor HSP990 in glioblastoma multiforme.

Heat shock protein (HSP) 90 is a molecular chaperone that modulates stability of several client proteins, many of which are key regulators of signaling pathways in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). The potential for targeting multiple effectors makes HSP90 an appealing therapeutic target for GBM. The biological activity of HSP990, a novel HSP90 inhibitor (Novartis Pharmaceuticals) as single agent was evaluated in a panel of short-term explant cultures derived from primary GBM xenografts (n=10). HSP990 treatment resulted in a dose-dependent growth inhibition in the all xenograft lines, with an IC₅₀ ranging from 5 to 30 nM. A 72 h exposure to HSP990 (10–30 nM) resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in the HSP90 client proteins Akt, Cdc2 and Cdc25C, a decrease in associated post-translational modifications p-Akt (S473), p-CDC2 (Y15), p-CDC25 (S216), and increased expression of HSP70. Additionally, a dose-dependent increase in HSP990-induced apoptosis (Annexin-V positivity), was observed within 24–72 hours of drug treatment. GBM tumors harbor a subpopulation of glioma stem cells that grow as neurospheres in neurobasal media and are considered important for tumor maintenance and progression. The effects of HSP990 were tested in neurospheres derived from 4 of the xenografts tested above (GBM12, GBM39, GB59, GBM12TMZ). These cultures demonstrated potential for tri-lineage differentiation upon serum challenge and had robust secondary neurosphere formation, demonstrating two hallmark features of cancer stem cells. In a bulk-culture neurosphere formation assay, co-incubation with 5 to 10 nM HSP990 was highly effective at suppressing neurosphere formation in all 4 xenograft lines. Notably, in GBM12 neurosphere cultures maintained in either serum-free media or challenged with serum, 30 nM HSP990 was equally effective at promoting up-regulation of HSP70, but exhibited less effect on Akt or Cdc2 in serum-free cultures as compared to cultures supplemented with serum. Incubation of serum-free neurosphere cultures with 5 nM HSP990 (5 days) resulted in increased glioneuronal differentiation exhibiting elevated GFAP, Oct-4 and beta-tubulin expression compared to untreated controls. To test ‘self renewal’ GBM12 neurospheres were treated with HSP990 (10, 30 nM) for 7 days followed by dissociation and plating equal numbers of viable cells at low density in fresh drug-free neurobasal media. Interestingly, HSP990 treatment did not affect the number of secondary neurospheres (surviving fraction: control = 1.00, 10 nM = 1.30, 30 nM = 1.05). Treatment of GBM12TMZ flank tumor xenografts with weekly HSP990 (13 mg/kg P.O.) resulted in a modest 9 day delay in tumor re-growth (40.3 and 49.3 respectively) compared to placebo treatment. In conclusion, HSP990 (a) had anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic effect on differentiated serum-supplemented xenograft cultures (b) a pro-differentiation effect on serum-free GBM stem cell cultures (c) markedly suppressed neurosphere formation with prolonged drug exposure but not with more limited drug exposure (d) inhibited GBM growth in vivo. Thus, HSP990 may inhibit GBM growth both through direct growth inhibition and through pro-differentiation effects on GBM stem-like cells.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference: Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics; 2011 Nov 12-16; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Ther 2011;10(11 Suppl):Abstract nr B100.